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14 Jan 2013

Alilo

On 7th January we joined
the Alilo Christmas procession in Tbilisi from the Rose Square to
Sameba Cathedral. “Alilo” is a Georgian traditional Christmas
song that now refers to the practice of walking from home to home
singing and collecting donations for the less fortunate that has
nowadays transformed into a massive street celebration where people
gather in several spots of the city and move along the streets to the
cathedral.

As we guessed, it
metaphorically stands for the shepherds who heard the heavenly angel
choirs (in our case impersonated by a nice white Mitsubishi with
speakers on top and several people dressed in church clothing) and
went to visit new-born Jesus and bring him gifts (in this case,
donations - as Jesus said,
“Truly
I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these,
you did not do for me” which also means that what we do for the
least of these, we do for him).

The
angelic Mitsubishi was followed by four boys dressed as shepherds and
carts pulled by some bulls who behaved in a very dignified and
respectable manner as if recently graduated from Young Gentlemen
Biblical Scene Acting Academy. Several priests made sure that we
inhale the divine presence instead of exhaust fumes and others
generously poured holy water over the heads of the crowd purifying us
from our sins.

Changing
scope from a local, private visitations to a mass procession
certainly reaches the goal of creating an impression of societal
unity and peaceful revolution, exchanging intimacy for grandeur
which is appropriate, considering the culture of collectivity. I
observed various impressions among the general public from light
nonchalance to being deeply touched on the verge of tears.